4 Important Things to Know Before Becoming a Freelancer

Photo: ColorJoy Stock

Starting a freelance career sounds like the ultimate dream: working independently, whenever and wherever you want, as well as choosing who you work with. If this appeals to you and you want to quit your full-time job to take that big leap, becoming a freelancer is a great idea. I know, it sounds scary! But like any other challenge in life, it will require you to create a new mindset, be persistent, and use your creativity in ways you’ve never imagined.

Once you’re on track, the benefits are extremely satisfying. Being a freelancer can be difficult at times, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But for me, however, freelance work has been an incredibly rewarding journey. I have more flexibility, I pick my own clients (and also fire the bad ones), and I can choose my own assignments. And honestly, you will be the best boss you ever had.

So if you’re like me, grab a hot cup of tea, relax, and follow my four pieces of advice to someone who is about to start a career as a full-time freelancer. 

#1 Get comfortable with inconsistency.

One important step in the process of becoming a freelancer is to shout it from the rooftops! Yes, let everyone know that you have transitioned to independence and are ready for business. Go ahead and do as much networking as you can, gain confidence by selling yourself, showcase your portfolio, and have a marketing plan ready. Building your personal brand is essential to gain recognition and make people want to hire you. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that you will encounter clients who just can’t seem to pay on time. You can be the best, most trusted freelancer in the world, completing projects on time, and keeping track of invoices, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean your clients will do the same. It's important that you are financially prepared for hiccups like these and save enough funds to cover until you get paid.

#2 Adopt a CEO mindset.

When you transition from full-time employee to full-time freelancer, a shift takes place from thinking like an employee to thinking like a business owner. As a freelancer, you are your own boss, bookkeeper, business developer, HR department, and project manager all in one. As I became a more experienced freelancer, I started to think of myself as a CEO. I began to act more professionally, which resulted in attracting better clients. I also hired a lawyer who could help me with contracts, and doing this made me feel more confident controlling my business. 

Freelancing is a way of working that offers you a lot of freedom. You could be a freelancer who prefers to do smaller projects for many different clients. Others like to work on long-term projects for one client for a number of months. It all depends on what you’re comfortable with. Most importantly, as an entrepreneur, you want to develop the skills you need to lead and work with efficiency and focus, and to set your priorities for your projects. 

#3 Keep up with taxes and paying your own benefits.

Ask any freelancer about self-employment taxes and you will surely hear a big sigh. Many freelance business owners consider keeping up with taxes to be one of the most daunting and important parts of being self-employed. But don’t worry, after a while, it will become routine. Paying your taxes on time can also have a positive impact on your credit score.

Keep track of your business expenses (from furniture, to travel and lunch with clients) so you can write these off at the end of the year. Efficiently monitoring your finances, invoices, expenses, and taxes will give you peace of mind. There are also many useful tools to help you complete these tasks, such as Quickbooks.

#4 Know the importance of networking and building a portfolio. 

It is essential to build a good network of people who appreciate you, potential customers, and people who can connect you with others. Find where your customers are moving. I advise you to do your research on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, professional associations, etc. Networking takes time, and if you are consistent and gain confidence selling yourself, sooner or later, you will start to make meaningful and authentic connections with people you admire and trust, and someone may end up referring you or even hiring you.

“When you transition from full-time employee to full-time freelancer, a shift takes place from thinking like an employee to thinking like a business owner.”

—Silvia Cantu, Art Director and Visual Artist

About the Author: Silvia Cantu is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary art director and visual artist. She is always looking for new stimuli, whether it is for work or style. Passionate about beauty in all its forms, Silvia is an all-around designer. She’s made a full-time job from her obsession and now she’s an eclectic artist with a strong eye for digital design. Silvia graduated with a degree in fashion design from Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan where she cultivated her talent for design and art direction. After university, she started working freelance with national and international clients in London, Sydney, Los Angeles, and Toronto in the fields of fashion and beauty. Her clients include big names such as Nike, ELLE Magazine, For Love and Lemons, Casio, and Dr. Roebuck’s.

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5 Ways to Prepare for Self-Employment

Photo credit: Sarah Natasha Photography 

Nowadays the term “entrepreneur” is part of our normal vocabulary, but no one striking out on their own becomes an overnight success. If you’re thinking about pursuing self-employment and running your own company, here are five ways to properly prepare yourself for setting out on your own. 

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Self-employment is not for the faint of heart. If you are committed to pursuing the pros of working for yourself, you also have to be hyper-aware of the cons. As you contemplate leaving the financial stability of your corporate job, begin to evaluate the added stresses that come with being a company that is a party of one. For example, I thought critically about having to pay a very expensive health insurance bill every month where previously health insurance had somewhat silently been deducted from every paycheck.

"Self-employment is not for the faint of heart." 

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I determined that the stress of that monthly payment would be more worthwhile than the stress I was feeling from my corporate gig where I was feeling unchallenged and unfulfilled. I also looked at what I would be doing from a day-to-day basis that couldn’t be covered by a team. I’d be offering clients my services from the ground up and they’d all be handled by me - no delegating up or down on a team. By thoroughly researching what your new normal will look like, you’ll be in for less of a shock when you become accountable only to yourself.

 NETWORK 

By far the most valuable thing I did in preparing for self-employment was tapping into my network. I began seeding to my friends, family and acquaintances that I was planning to leave my job to consult and one by one my network grew.

Everyone wanted to put me in touch with someone who’d had the courage to do what I was planning to do. I began speaking to loads of other freelancers and consultants and I came prepared to every meeting with a list of questions. Every encounter held a powerful and helpful takeaway and the more people I spoke with, the more my network expanded and the more business leads I started to pull in. Those I spoke with also were incredibly valuable when it came to setting the costs for my services, determining what tools I’d need to invest in and helping to provide guidance on how to successfully manage my business. 

GET ORGANIZED OPERATIONALLY 

There’s a lot that goes into operating your own business and some of the things may even surprise you. Before you leave your job for the land of self-employment, I recommend starting to get the pieces of the operational puzzle in place. One of the first steps I took was finding a lawyer who could incorporate my business. Then I set up a business banking account so I had a checking and a savings account for the company and also a credit card for all expenses. I got set up on Quickbooks to run the financial side of my business and also built a forecast so I was setting goals for myself to meet from a revenue standpoint.

"Before you leave your job for the land of self-employment get the pieces of the operational puzzle in place."

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Next came working with my lawyer to draft contracts and other necessary paperwork I would need to run my business from a client services perspective. I also developed a capabilities deck I could send to prospective clients, built a website, ordered business cards and developed a list of companies I was interested in speaking with. Once everything was done prior to leaving my job, it was easy to hit the ground running pursuing business because I had prepared all of my operational to-dos. 

PLAN FINANCIALLY 

Before you commence self-employment, you have to first accept that you won’t know from where your next paycheck is coming. Which translates to having to prepare financially for those inevitable times that you won’t have steady pay coming in. Knowing I lived in the most expensive city in the world, I put pen to paper to determine what living in New York was really costing me every month in regards to expenses. I signed up for a Mint.com account to build out a budget and for two months tracked my expenses. Once I had an idea of averages in particular categories, I built out an expense worksheet for myself that included rent, health insurance, groceries, travel, utilities, etc. I knew I wanted to have whatever that number was per month times six saved before I pulled the plug on my corporate job so that when the time came to dip into savings, I felt OK doing so.  

"Do the math and start saving accordingly before you up and leave your job."

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Do the math and start saving accordingly before you up and leave your job. You’ll be far better off down the line for having done so.

THINK LONG TERM 

When you begin working for yourself you’ll feel like you need to say yes to whatever initial projects come your way because you fear the unknown. But when you accept projects or clients that you don’t feel passionate about, you’re defeating one of the best perks of being your own boss: the ability to say no. While you certainly need to pay your bills, you shouldn’t take on work that you don’t feel capable of delivering on or for people or brands that don’t make you feel invested in the work. If you begin to take on projects you’re not jazzed about, you are limiting the hours you have a month to pursue and accept jobs that will not only give you income but also fulfillment.

Meghan Donovan is the founder of mmd communications, a public relations and influencer marketing agency in New York City helping to elevate lifestyle brands with dynamic, meaningful ideas. In addition to her decade of experience in the marketing industry for major brands like Procter & Gamble and Virgin America, she also pens the popular life + style site, wit & whimsy. You can read more about her journey to self-employment here. 

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On This Day: 4 Ways Your #TBTs Can Motivate Present-You

photo by Allison Norton 

This post originally appeared on Shine. 

Written by: Felicia Fitzpatrick

It’s 7:45 A.M., and I am squinting at my phone as I turn off my alarm. I instinctively open up Facebook’s push notification in a half-asleep daze to look back on the memories that I’ve apparently shared with 26 different people “On This Day.” Halfway through the scrolling, I cringe.

“On This Day in 2010…”

“On This Day in 2010 my friend and I took an completely awkward photo with a stranger who started talking to us on the bus so I could prove that I was having fun as a freshman in college.”

It terrifies me that on any given day I can stumble upon the Ghosts of Felicia’s Past. 

It’s like the virtual version of running into former high school classmates at Target while home for the holidays. These digital time-turning apps have made me run into my first love that broke my heart, friends I don’t talk to anymore, and a version of Felicia that didn’t fully understand herself. 

While there’s always something sentimental about naivete, the overwhelming sense of insecurity I felt back then also creeps up. It’s a lot to feel, especially at 7:48 A.M.

In some instances, I get jealous of my past self. “Damn, 2010, 2012, AND 2014 Felicia was seizing the hell out of this day! Oh, but 2017 Felicia had a bad day at work. I’ll never amount to anything.” 

How have these apps made me competitive with myself?! And is that a positive or destructive behavior?

Studies have shown that “feelings of envy can then lead to Facebook users experiencing symptoms of depression,” so how do we make these morning reflections of social media nostalgia pleasant and motivational? 

Here are four tips on how to use the days of yore to push towards a happy, successful, and fulfilling future:

1. Write Out How It Makes You Feel

If these virtual look-backs have you feeling some type of way, it’s time to break out a journal, scratch paper, or even your phone’s notepad, and get ready to ask yourself (and answer) some questions. 

What is your gut reaction to these memories?

Embarrassed? Vulnerable? Angry? Jealous? Sad? Identifying feelings can be tough because it may bring up emotions you’ve been trying to avoid, but writing down a list of the different emotions can help you break through barriers.

How does that make you feel? 

Are you embarrassed because you accidentally sent a ‘reply all’ email at work? Are you vulnerable because you opened up in a relationship? Are you angry, jealous, and/or sad because your friends have been hitting their life goals and you feel like you’re still just treading the proverbial achievement-waters? 

Write down your current emotions and compare to the list of memory-driven emotions. Note the similarities between the lists, because there may be patterns and habits you have developed. 

What do you want?

Making a list of goals can feel lofty and overwhelming, so decide on your framing. Maybe you want to think big picture: what is the one BIG goal you’d like to achieve eventually, and work your way down to one goal you can achieve in the next year that will help you get to the BIG goal, one goal you can achieve this month, and one goal you can achieve this week. 

Alternatively, you can start small -- creating basic habits that you can do each day and next thing you know, you’ve created a lifestyle change. Regardless of how you frame it for yourself, determine what you want.

What lessons from the past can use you in the present?

Nostalgia can sometimes help us identify what we crave in our current lives. Do you miss the community feel you used to have with your soccer team? Do you miss the English teacher that pushed you to create your best work? 

"All of the experiences you’re having now will help you get to where you want to go". 

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All of the experiences you’re having now will help you get to where you want to go.
Think about how you can apply that in your current life. Maybe you become the social chair of your office and plan happy hours for you and your colleagues. Maybe you ask your manager for more consistent feedback, or seek out a mentor. Looking to the past can help you build upon your foundation to achieve what makes you happy.

2. Embrace Nostalgia and Reach Out to Old Friends
It’s okay to think back fondly on memories of your life -- recalling the pure excitement as you embrace future adventures, the pure fear as you stepped into the unknown. 

I often see my younger self taking full advantage of days of carefree bliss, before phrases like “student loans” and “apartment security deposit” were in my vocabulary. Moments like this can often leave you sentimental and longing for the past. Instead of a solo wallow sesh, reach out to the people that were surrounding and supporting you at that time. 

Acknowledge the people that have seen you through everything: braces and pimples, your Lizzie McGuire phase, your bumper sticker decal obsession. They were most likely the ones that were there when you were building your dreams, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they were looking for support from their longtime friends too. 

Who knows, you might create even more memories.

3. Take Note of Your Progress

Sifting through these memories, you may find yourself laughing at inside jokes in the making, smiling at dreams being formed, and head-shaking in that annoyingly all-knowing way at significant goals being achieved. 

You have a new perspective. Appreciate your growth by making a list of your accomplishments, because even if you feel like you’re stuck now, a visual list can remind you how far you’ve actually come and how many possibilities are in your future. Hope you still have that pen and paper out.

What goals have you achieved?

If you’ve set goals for yourself in the past, this list will be fairly simple to produce. Did you achieve what you wanted to achieve? Finally got verified on Twitter? Became a council member for your town? Great! If you haven’t been an active goal-setter, think big picture about the life and habits you’ve imagined for yourself. 

Were you a small town gal with big city dreams, and now you’re thriving in the Big Apple? Did you hope that one day you would be able to spend weekends hiking with a backpack full of trail mix? Those count, too. 

What fears have you overcome?
 

"Appreciate how far you’ve come and how many possibilities are in your future."

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Appreciate how far you’ve come and how many possibilities are in your future.
This does NOT mean you need to submerge yourself in a vat of cockroaches and reenact an episode of Fear Factor. Can you now give speeches when you used to feel like Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries? Have you publicly shared some of your creative work when the thought used to give you hives? You may not have developed specific goals around these fears, but it’s worth noting that you’ve spent time conquering ideas and notions that used to scare you.

What could you not have done a year ago that you are capable of now?

While this list could look similar to the lists above, ask yourself, what would I not have been able to do a year ago? This list may be filled with more unexpected and spontaneous achievements -- maybe it’s bench-pressing a certain amount of weight, or maybe belting a high C. What skills have you developed in the past year?

4. Authentically Live in the Present
My friend Tyree Boyd-Pates has a signature phrase, “trust the process.” You can have an end goal or destination -- but don’t think that there is only one path to get there. 

Your journey may be winding as hell, have multiple forks with no munchkins guiding you, but everything you encounter along the way will only strengthen you. Don’t focus so much on the future that you can’t take in life lessons in the moment. 

All of the experiences you’re having now will help you get to where you want to go, and perhaps more importantly, where you need to be. And that’s exciting, because I can only imagine what achievements will deserve an annoyingly all-knowing head shake in the years to come.

Felicia Fitzpatrick is the Social Media Manager for Playbill. When she’s not teaching Broadway performers how to use Snapchat, you can find her eating spaghetti, listening to Christmas music and rewatching Gilmore Girls seasons 1-4.

You're a Freelancer and You Lost a Client, Now What?

The freelance world is full of competition. (Read up as to why we think a little competition among women is more than OK.) 

Sometimes you’re competing against other freelancers and sometimes you’re competing against yourself. Like when a steady client all of the sudden PULLS the PLUG and you’re left scrambling to cover your monthly nut. (Click here for key financial rules to follow at any age.)

When it’s you against your bank account, we want you to come out on top. 

Because it doesn’t matter how great you are at your job or how well you interface with clients, it happens to the best of us. Directions and budgets change. The people who hired you leave positions and bring on a new person. Sometimes the relationship has simply expired. 

Here are four ways that will keep you from getting lanced by the roller coaster world of working for yourself. 

WORK IT OUT WITH UPWORK 

Great people can be hard to find, so make yourself findable with the world’s largest online workplace. Upwork has over 5 million registered clients who post over 3 million jobs annually. The site also boasts over a billion dollars worth of work done annually. That’s money going into other pockets. 

You apply, create a profile that focusses on your very niche (and very impressive) skills, and start hunting. Browse jobs in over ten different fields, from writing to design and creative. There’s a new job out there for you, so go find it. 

2. BE AS COLD AS ICE

Sometimes jobs find us but most freelancers have to find the job. It's called a hustle. 

So you lost one job? Use it as a reason to find two more. Build a list of one hundred clients that you want to work for and reach out. The most successful “cold” emails offer a service instead of asking a question. 

"The most successful cold emails offer a service instead of asking a question."

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Don’t ask if someone is hiring, show them with data and specific examples of what you can do for them. Karin Eldor, self-employed copywriter and social media strategist says this of cold contacting: “Hit up the job boards of the brands you love most to see if there are any postings for your skill-set, and fire off those applications and emails.  

She adds, “Set a goal of reaching out to four contacts per day -- the wider your net, the more likely you'll get some bites. The key to cold emailing and increasing the chance of a reply is making your email short and to the point: start with flattery, then hit 'em up with your expertise in a short tagline about yourself. You need to intro what you do, what your specialty is, and how you can help them.”

3. FOCUS ON WHAT’S WORKING, TO MAKE SURE YOU KEEP WORKING

“Losing a steady client can shake you to the core,” says Karin. But all freelancers agree that going negative is as bad as going dark. 

Jane Helpern, writer, copywriter, and editorial director living in LA, says it's “Easier said than done but try not to take it personally. Don't waste your time wondering what went wrong, or if it's something you did. It's endlessly more productive to focus on improving one aspect of your professional package, whether it's refreshing your website, tightening up your social media presence, or tricking out your desk setup. It's kind of like a revenge body, but for your career.”

"Focus on improving one aspect of your professional package. It's kind of like a revenge body, but for your career.”

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4. SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS

Unsubscribe from everything that's wasting your time and sign up for everything that will advance your finances. From our Create & Cultivate Classifieds to ilovecreatives job boards. 

Karin says, “sign up for newsletters from freelance-oriented websites and make sure to visit job boards that list contractual gigs, on the daily -- it's a freelance world, and we're just living in it. We have big love for ilovecreatives lately, as they send weekly digital classifieds for creatives.” 

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